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WILKES-BARRE — After going three games without producing a goal, the Penguins’ power-play units undertook a group effort to make adjustments.

“Whenever you’re in a funk, it starts to weigh on your mind,” forward Zach Aston-Reese said Tuesday after a workout at the Toyota SportsPlex. “We’ve had some time in between games to sit back and look at some film and try to calm down and talk about what’s working and what’s not.”

The solution they came up with was to simplify their approach and get more pucks toward the net, and it worked to perfection Sunday.

Already ahead, 1-0, in the first period on Jarred Tinordi’s goal, the Penguins received their only man-advantage just 6:16 into the game.

After they cycled the puck around the perimeter, Aston-Reese received a pass at the right doorstep, made a nice spin move and beat Hershey Bears goaltender Vitek Vanecek to double the lead. It was the power play’s first goal since Nov. 3, and it was the eventual game-winner in a 5-1 decision.

The team now hopes that turnaround can continue Friday against the Binghamton Devils.

Although the Penguins were unable to score, their progress on the man-advantage really started last Saturday at Mohegan Sun Arena in a 4-3 win over Providence. They received a 4- and 5-on-3 opportunity in the third period and produced a number of quality chances, but Bruins goaltender Zane McIntyre robbed them — and, specifically, Garrett Wilson in front of the net — with a couple spectacular saves.

After the game, head coach Clark Donatelli was pleased with his team’s lack of hesitation to get pucks on net, and Sunday’s goal was just the further evolution of that mindset.

The Penguins are still only sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 16.9-percent conversion rate, but the goal made for plenty of optimism.

“It’s like a roller coaster, right?” Donatelli said. “As long as we’re executing — the main thing on the power play is establish your shot and take what (other teams) give us. Sometimes, less is more.

“We’re continually on them. Timmy (Army) is on them about it, and we were

1 for 1 (Sunday) so it’s good.”

It also helps to have Aston-Reese, who can finish around the net with the best of them. It was only his second tally of the season, but he is confident the points will continue coming for him and the power play.

“It just kind of goes back to not deviating from things when they aren’t working,” he said. “You just got to keep working on them in practice, and eventually they’ll go.”

Flight plan

Forward Christian Thomas is back with the team, but only after taking a convoluted path home from the Karjala Cup.

He began in Helsinki, Finland, and made stops in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Detroit before finally landing back in Pennsylvania on Monday night.

Luckily, his experience with Team Canada was more straightforward, as Thomas scored a goal in Sunday’s game of the pre-Olympic tournament and enjoyed his audition for the Pyeongchang Games.

“I worked as hard as I could, and I tried to leave everything on the table there,” Thomas said. “It was just a great experience and I took it all in and, hopefully, I get another shot.”

The 25-year-old’s trip wasn’t without adjustments.

For one, he said he experienced heavy jet lag and would wake up at inopportune times in the middle of the night. The bright side to being awake at 3:30 a.m., though, was that Thomas could check Twitter for updates on the Penguins and the AHL website for live scores.

He also played on a larger ice surface than he’s used to in the states, but that was much easier to acclimate with.

“The way I play, it kind of fit the big ice there,” he said. “As much as it helps you in the O-zone, it’s tough playing in the D-zone with those skill guys. So, it was fun.”

Thomas had seven points (3G-4A) in nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton — and points in five straight — before his temporary departure.

Status report

Penguins captain Tom Kostopoulos was on the ice for Tuesday’s workout; his status is day-to-day at best and possibly week-to-week, according to Donatelli.

Defenseman Lukas Bengtsson is feeling better after missing Sunday’s game in Hershey with an illness, but he is also day-to-day.

Contact the writer: tpiccotti@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2089;

@CVPiccotti on Twitter

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